Lou Reed Mysteriously Cancels Coachella, Sideshow Gigs

"Unavoidable complications" are to blame

The Desert Sun reports that the former Velvet Underground frontman has backed out of his two upcoming Coachella gigs and the three California sideshows he had booked between the annual festival’s two weekends. A spokesperson for Goldenvoice, the promoter behind Coachella, said that the cancelations were caused by “unavoidable complications.” That’s all we have to go off of for the moment; hopefully, the sudden conflict is just a scheduling issue or a case of Reed living up to his reputation for being a notorious crank, and not anything really serious.

Reed was originally scheduled to perform on April 12 and 19, as part of a bill that also features the Stone Roses, Blur, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse, and many more. Now the 71-year-old visionary’s name has been scrubbed from the festival’s poster altogether. No word yet on who, if anyone, will replace Reed on the lineup.

Just strike the native New Yorker’s set from SPIN’s list of 10 Pleasant Surprises at this year’s Coachella — West Coast fans will have to wait a little bit longer for their man Lou.

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